Since Life Happens 24 Hours a Day, So Should Your Business

Whether you are a large company or a small one man show, it’s critical to be available in some way to your customers. It’s not only a good business practice but it’s become an undeniable expectation of consumers. The challenge is that not everyone’s schedule matches yours. Let’s face it, people’s lives are hectic. They are working long hours, they’re taking care of kids, running errands and much more throughout their day. By the time they sit down to find a contractor for their home improvement project, it may be very late in the evening or it could be in the wee hours of the morning before they head off to work. If you or someone from your company is not available during the non-traditional business hours, you’re likely losing customers.

Finding a Solution

What can you do to meet the evolving customer expectations? You could hire a team of customer service reps to work around the clock; providing a completive edge and delivering a great experience for your clients. Sounds great right? This would certainly be an awesome solution; however, can you afford it? Let’s do some math.

• The national average pay per hour for a customer service representative is $16.00
• For just one day (24 hours) a rep will cost you $384
• For one week (168 hours) that’s $2688
• Yearly, a 24/7/365 representative for your business would cost $139,776!!!!!

Of course I can’t speak for everyone but in my world, that solution is just not practical or feasible. It has become increasingly important for businesses to minimize expenses, increase productivity and deliver outstanding service. That’s a tall order that leaves many of us scratching our heads. After all, how can you keep costs down while boosting output and customer service? There has to be a way to meet the expectations of visitors to your site, any time of day or night, that won’t cost a fortune.

A second, option would be to outsource your calls to a contact center. This alternative has been adopted by a large number of companies looking to provide round-the-clock customer service at a cheaper rate. Although it may be a less expensive choice, the savings are only about 15% which means you can still expect to pay more than $100,000.00 a year for 24/7 coverage. Additionally, call center representatives, while incredibly nice, are likely not very knowledgeable about your business. This lack of familiarity results in sub par service which can leave potential customers aggravated.

What if I told you that there is a simple solution?

If you’re a contractor (HVAC, flooring, painting, roofing etc….) people have navigated to your website because they are interested in your services and are looking to hire someone to take on their home improvement project. Studies have shown that internet shoppers are online doing research and gathering information in order to get the best product/service at a great price.

Unfortunately, in the home improvement industry, consumers have had little success in their efforts to get the information they’re looking for simply by going to a website. If you’re not giving people what they want, you’re losing money. Just imagine that you are considering purchasing a refrigerator for your home. You will most likely want to visit multiple retail websites to determine the cost and to find the best deal. But what if those sites didn’t display the price and that they require you to make an appointment for the salesperson to come to your home before they will tell you what the cost will be? It would be a frustrating experience.

Apples to Oranges?

You may be thinking that shopping for an appliance is nothing like shopping for a major home improvement project; that it’s like comparing apples to oranges. This may have been true in the past because the ability to provide upfront customized pricing by a contractor has never been an option, until now.

MyServiceWhale gives your business a differential advantage that meets the needs of your customers. It’s innovative patent-pending quoting technology that lives on your website, enabling you to deliver instant, customized quotes all day, every day. Our software is the representative from your company that never sleeps and helps you to save time and money. Best of all, MyServiceWhale costs just pennies a day!

How does MyServiceWhale help save both time and money?

Great question! To answer, lets first look at what normally goes into giving an estimate to a homeowner. It’s likely a customer was referred to you by someone they know or they found you through an internet search. Either way, the odds are that they want to know what it will cost to do their project. In order to give them what they want, a price, you must first schedule an agreed upon time to meet with them for an onsite visit. Here is where your time and the cost starts adding up.

On average, a contractor will travel 30 miles per estimate request. If you’re lucky, there will be no traffic, no delays and you will only need to go by way of the highway. Realistically it’s entirely possible that there will be some congestion, maybe road construction, and a detour or two along the way. You will also need to travel on local roads where the speed limit can range from 25 mph to 45 mph, making your trip even longer. Now lets take into account the time you’ll spend at the residence. Initially you will speak with the homeowner to find out what it is he/she wants done and then you have to inspect the project and finally discuss the possible solutions available with the customer. When all is said and done, four hours of your valuable time has been eaten up and you have spent roughly $200-$300!

Now comes the painful truth. Only 30-40% of the estimates given will convert to paying jobs; meaning that you are not being compensated for the larger percentage of your time. You’re likely thinking that there’s nothing you can do about because it’s all part of your trade, well get ready to be amazed. With MyServiceWhale, homeowners can get instant, customized quotes from you without the need for an onsite estimate. It’s a win, win. You’re giving your customers exactly what they are looking for, when they’re looking for it, and in turn you’re getting more qualified leads because a visitor must first enter their email address and phone number prior to seeing your quote.

The days of driving to give an estimate for every possible job are over. What will you do with all your extra time?

For more information on MyServiceWhale, visit our website and request a demo. There is absolutely no cost or obligation to you.